WEDNESDAY-MUSIC is yo la tengo.

those who had high school spanish know "yo la tengo" translates to english as "i've got it." those who are fans of the 1962 new york mets (one of the worst teams in mlb history) know how the band yo la tengo got their name. if you had neither high school spanish, nor were a fan of early 1960's mets baseball, you are in for storytelling treat, my friend.

during the 1962 season, mets centerfielder richie ashburn and shortstop elio chacón would frequently attempt to catch the same fly balls. however, when richie went for a catch, he would yell, "i got it! i got it!" typically resulting in a collision with elio, because elio 1) was venezuelan, 2) spoke only spanish and 3) had no idea what "i got it" meant. eventually richie learned to yell the far less painful, "¡yo la tengo! ¡yo la tengo!" elio understood this, and all was once again right with their american pastime-y world. until one day richie yelled "¡yo la tengo!" and was plowed over by frank thomas because 1) frank spoke no spanish and 2) had no idea what "¡yo la tengo!" meant. as richie got up, frank asked him, "what the heck is a yellow tango?"

meanwhile, back at the hall of justice... married hoboken couple ira kaplan (guitars, vocals) and georgia hubley (drums, vocals), 2/3 of the band yo la tengo formed way back in 1984. they added james mcnew (bass, vocals) in 1992. the band has maintained this line-up since then.

the band performs feedback-driven noise rock and at the same time atmospheric shoegazing pop with, according to music writer jason ankeny, "equal parts scholarly composure and fannish enthusiasm." over the years, because of ira's half-spoken lyrical style and intense guitar work, he has been compared to lou reed; in fact, the band portrayed the velvet underground in the film i shot andy warhol.

additionally, the band is know for their ability to perform nearly any cover-song on the spot. in fact, in 2006 the band released yo la tengo is murdering the classics, a live compilation of impromptu cover-song performances from the nj radio station, wfmu. as a fundraiser, callers requested random songs for the band to perform. also, during a recent tour, the the audience was asked to request songs and pose questions which were then answered strategically so that the answers to the questions led to the next song. i saw it; it was cool.

on september 08, 2009 the band released their 16th studio l.p., popular songs.

click here to download a few songs off of their website. click here to listen to a march 12, 2008 austin music hall set at sxsw. click here to listen to a november 02, 2006 whyy fresh air story. click here to listen to a day to day story recorded by npr on september 14, 2006. click here to download an old npr music interview and profile. click here to watch a song recorded october 07, 2006 at the minnesota public radio studio. click here to listen to a june 22, 2003 gary calamar interview recorded by kcrw. don't forget, the album cover image always links to sample songs and the band's image to their website.

check here to see if yo la tengo have any gigs scheduled near you.

as always, please buy this album from your local independent music store by people who know and love music and not from retailers like wal-mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand). incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the united states. that my friend, bites.

yo la tengo rock.

if you agree, please spread the word (about the band and this site).

jason

don't worry if you missed the i and love and you review from last week: here it is.

matador records

matador records